Archive for November, 2011

Sorry about the delay of this post. I was going to have it up yesterday, but I got called into work and had a ton of work to do for school. We will go ahead and look at the two catchers from the two Florida Marlins World Series teams today. The Marlins catcher in 1997 is the homegrown, original Marlins draftee, Charles Johnson. The 2003 was anchored by January free agent addition in Ivan Rodriguez. Obviously both players were brought into the Marlins championship teams in different manners. Charles Johnson played baseball at the University of Miami before he was [...]

Two signings were announced the past few days for the Miami Marlins. The Marlins re-signed catcher Luke Montz and former big leaguer Robert Ray to minor league deals. The 28-year-old Montz spent the 2011 season in Double-A Jacksonville. The former 17th rounder by the Expos hit .273 with 22 homeruns while splitting time behind the plate, first and the outfield for the Suns. Ray, 27, has had big league time with Toronto in 2009 and 2010. The 6’4’’ righty posted a 4.18 ERA in seven scattered appearances during his two years with the Blue Jays. In 2011, Ray was removed [...]

City of Miami officials received another rude awakening as a consequence of partially funding construction of the new Marlins Ballpark. After taking out $100 million in loans on the bond market for the construction of four parking garages, the city is on the verge of being handed an unexpected $2 million property tax bill. In financing construction of the parking garages, the city agreed to lease all 5,700 spaces to the Marlins at the cost of $10 a spot. Although out of line with the city’s regular practices, the contract stipulates that the city, and not the team, is responsible [...]

Just before becoming the Miami Marlins, the Marlins offered Albert Pujols a contract offer. The only concrete detail of that offer was that the deal was 9-years in length. Up to this point, this may have been the only offer that Pujols and his agent have seen this off-season. Only two other teams are rumored to even be interested in Pujols right now. Those teams are the only team that he has ever played for, the St. Louis Cardinals, and that teams biggest rival, the Chicago Cubs. Due to the lack of Pujols activity, the Marlins still seem to be a [...]

“They rolled out the red carpet. They seem to have a plan and made it very clear they’d like C.J. Wilson to be a part of it,” said Bob Garber, Wilson’s agent. The Miami Marlins seemed to pull out all the same tricks for Wilson that they did for the other three free agents they hosted, Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle, and Albert Pujols. Wilson’s agent added “I think he really impressed everybody today with his charisma. I think he’d be a great fit in South Florida.” Garber would however not comment on whether the Marlins made his client a contract offer or not. He [...]

The Florida Marlins won two championships in their history. The Miami Marlins have never played a game. Whether or not Marlins owner Jeffery Loria wants to admit it or not, the “Florida” part of Marlins history is very important to all Marlins fans. There were some hard times to endure, but for the most part, fans enjoyed watching these young Marlins teams. Over the next couple of weeks, I will be taking a look at the Marlins rosters of the 1997 and 2003 World Series teams and comparing them. I will provide statistical background on each player and then I [...]

Hello Marlinmaniacs! My last article I wrote about 3 players who are getting over-looked this off-season who have a chance to make this season special. Today, I will do the opposite and write about 3 players who could be left out of the picture if they do not step up right away. The roster is full of talent, all of which is needed. Despite the fact of the talented roster, prospects in the farm system are waiting for someone to slip-up so they can get their turn. Lets take a look at 3 players I think need to step up immediately in order to [...]

Finally finished the Thanksgiving leftovers. Hope you guys have has well. Let’s get caught up with the weekly review of what happened on MarlinManiac last week and get this week started. The winter meetings are taking place next week and the CBA was announced Tuesday, expect the Hot Stove to pick back up soon. On Tuesday, Will Stanifer named three possible wild card players for the Marlins in 2012 that could be the key to the Miami Marlins success. Also on Tuesday, the Marlins acquired Wade LeBlanc for John Baker. The Marlins also expressed interest in Miami native Gio Gonzalez. Also [...]

Another Friday means another round of Marlins Way for all you fans out there. Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I just want to say I am very thankful for my readers at MarlinManiac! You guys are wonderful and I hope you guys enjoy everything we work on here. On Black Friday in 2005, the New York Mets got quite a bargain. The Florida Marlins sent Carlos Delgado and $7 million to the Mets for Mike Jacobs and prospects Yusmeiro Petit and Grant Psomas. We all know how great that deal worked out for the Marlins. On MLBTradeRumors, Mike Axisa takes a look at non-tender candidate Chris Volstad. Mike speculates that the Marlins [...]

On Tuesday the Miami Marlins traded catcher John Baker to the San Diego Padres for left-handed pitcher Wade LeBlanc. Casual baseball fans may have never heard of LeBlanc and wonder who this 6’3’’ lefty is. In 2008 Baseball America ranked the former second rounder as high as the fourth-best prospect in the Padres organization. Here’s what Baseball America said about the soft-tossing lefty back then: